


Close Enough to Touch

by Llama1412



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-12
Updated: 2010-10-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23484988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412
Summary: Arthur likes to touch.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Kudos: 30





	Close Enough to Touch

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on livejournal in 2010. Posted unedited.

If asked, people would not say that Arthur was a tactile person. He was distant and closed off. "As a prince should be, of course," they'd quickly add.

Merlin himself had certainly believed that Arthur was a very private person, not prone to putting up with people in his space any more than he had to.

For this reason, he was hugely surprised after he initiated their relationship, kissing Arthur on impulse while dressing him in the morning. Merlin had pulled back, surprised by his own actions, and waited with sweaty palms for Arthur to come back to himself and dish out the punishment. Instead, Arthur had blinked at him, a small smile unfurling across his lips before tugging him back down and sealing their mouths together.

Since then, Arthur had taken to pulling him close whenever he got the chance, curling up around him in bed, pulling him into his arms whenever he started pacing worriedly, crowding him up against the wall when they were sneaking around and avoiding the guards (something that happened far too often, to be honest), resting a hand on the small of his back or around his wrist when they were in public.

Initially, he'd been somewhat surprised by Arthur's willingness to touch him, but then he remembered all the ways Arthur had touched him even before they became intimate. Arthur loved to sling an arm around his shoulders and pull him snug against his side, to manhandle him out of Arthur's path even when not strictly necessary, to stick close as they walked so that their arms brushed constantly.

All in all, Merlin discovered, Arthur was a very tactile person, despite what his princely persona showed.


End file.
